700 Filipinos get consular services in 3-day outreach in Tacoma

The Filipino Community Alliance of Tacoma’s pre-processing area for applicants where passport applicants wait for their turn. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

• 300 passport and 110 dual citizenship applications among services handled

• Consulate on wheels/wings goes to cities without Philippine consular offices

TACOMA, Washington — A three-day consular outreach April 25 to 27 served over 700 people, attended to by a seven-person team from the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco.

“Malaking tulong po ang nagawa nitong consular outreach (The consular outreach is really a big help),” one applicant said, after having processed the renewal of his passport. “San Francisco is so far—this way we didn’t need to spend for travel.”

The consular team headed by Consul Reichel Quiñones, reported processing over 300 passport applications, 80 legal documents, 50 civil registry documents, and 110 applications for reacquisition of Philippine citizenship.

Tacoma is known as Washington State’s “City of Destiny” because it hosted both the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the 19th century and Washington State’s largest international port. The state has a diverse population, 1.3 percent of whom are Filipinos.

The Filipino Community Alliance of Tacoma hosted the outreach at the Asia-Pacific Cultural Center.

Consul Reichel Quiñones (sixth from right) and the Consulate team with volunteers from the Filipino Community Alliance of Tacoma, led by Virgie Hilyer (seventh from right) and Carina Pinch (sixth left), the coordinators. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Acting Head of Post, Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon, thanked the Filipino Community Alliance of Tacoma (FCAT), which has hosted these outreaches for several years.

“Their hard work on behalf of the Consulate-on-Wheels program has enabled us to bring our services closer to our kababayans, and make them more accessible to those who live far away from our main office in San Francisco,” said Ascalon.

The Consulate-on-Wheels/Wings is a regular program of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, in partnership with the local communities in the areas under our jurisdiction.

“Over the years, our partners have been able to work with us in confirming and finalizing our outreach schedules a year in advance, which is invaluable in helping our kababayans plan their appointments with the consular outreach teams,” Ascalon added.

Due to the large number of Filipinos working and living in Washington State and surrounding areas, the Consulate holds at least seven outreaches there a year – four in Seattle, three in Tacoma. Another outreach will be held in a month’s time in Oregon, in the cities of Roseburg (May 24) and Portland (May 25).

The Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, through its COW Program, conducts regular annual outreaches to various locations in the ten states under its jurisdiction: Alaska, Northern California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Northern Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

For more information on upcoming Consulate-on-Wheels outreaches, or to search for a COW coming to your area, visit https://www.philippinessanfrancisco.org/philippines-sf/consular-outreach-sf/ or follow the Consulate’s Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/PCGSF.